Industrial gold mining
operates increasingly
through technologies high
above the land mined,
such as satellite imaging,
automated machinery,
and the airplanes
that transport workers to
and frommine sites,
or the gold itself
This contour map shows the area of Toronto/Tkaronto, Ontario,
territory of the Anishinaabe, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee,
the Huron-Wendat, and the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation
Barrick Gold is headquarted in the city’s financial district
Until 2019, Barrick was the world’s largest mining company
Barrick Gold
owns at least five
aircraft:
three Gulfstream luxury
jets,
one Beech-craft 1900 jet,
and one DHC-6
Twin Otter
400 jet
in this contour map of Toronto,
the circle in blue represents
an area of roughly
four square kilometres
Barrick’s flights in 2019
have produced enough
carbon emissions to
melt four square kilometres
of Arctic sea ice
Elko Nevada
This flight frequently
transports workers to and
from the Barrick Goldstrike
mine
Palm Beach, Florida
Weekly flights on company jet
(Barrick executive owns
one of several
homes in Palm Beach)
Farnborough Airport, UK
This airport caters to Greater
London
(Barrick executive has one of
several homes in London)
the company’s
flights have
emitted over
1,200 metric tons
of CO2
in 2019
the pattern of commuting to work
by plane is prevalent
in the mining industry
from mine workers to executives,
the model of the
fly-in/fly-out operation (FIFO)
reflects economic necessity,
social status,
and a particular way of life
however, the FIFO model is
ill-suited for cultivating
reciprocal relations with the communities
and land on which mining
wealth is built
Barrick Gold has been accused of
human rights violations
and the company has faced feirce
opposition from community groups
and land defenders
across continents
what do the skies reveal
about patterns
of extraction
that cut deep
into the land
and across
communities?
Frequent flight route
of Barrick-Gold-owned plane
Barrick-Gold-owned
gold or silver mine